As the final week of the ECHL regular season gets underway, teams who have been assured a spot in the Kelly Cup Playoffs are lining up schedules and possible scenarios.
The Wheeling Nailers have announced the two schedule scenarios for the North Division Semifinal Round of the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Nailers will face the Norfolk Admirals in a best-of-seven series.
Wheeling and Norfolk are currently battling for second place. This will determine which team will have home ice advantage in the series. Regardless of that outcome, the first five games of the series are set.
Games one and two will be played at Norfolk Scope Arena on Wednesday, Apr. 16 and Thursday, Apr. 17, with both contests starting at 7:05 Pm ET.
The series will then shift to WesBanco Arena for games three, four, and five on Wednesday, Apr. 23, Friday, Apr. 25, and Saturday, Apr. 26, all with 7:10 opening face-offs.
As it is a best-of-seven series, game five is if necessary.
The locations of games six and seven (both if necessary) will depend on who finishes in second place to earn home ice advantage. If the Nailers finish in second, they will host games six and seven on Monday, Apr. 28 and Tuesday, Apr. 29, with both games beginning at 7:10.
If the Admirals finish in second place, they will host games six and seven on Tuesday, Apr. 29 and Wednesday, Apr. 30, with 7:05 start times for both.
Wheeling and Norfolk each have three games remaining in the regular season. The Nailers will visit the Trois-Rivières Lions on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Admirals will host the Reading Royals on Wednesday, then host the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday and Saturday.
The Nailers currently hold a one-point lead (86-85) over Norfolk for second place, and the Nailers also own the tiebreaker, thanks to a 36-32 advantage in regulation wins.
This is Wheeling's third trip to the post-season in the last four years, and the Nailers have won at least one series in each of their last three playoff appearances, dating back to the run to the 2016 Kelly Cup Final. This will be the second year in a row that post-season hockey will be played in Norfolk, following an eight-year drought.
Similar to Wheeling, the Admirals earned an opening round series win last spring. The two cities have a playoff history with each other. In 1994, the Wheeling Thunderbirds defeated the Hampton Roads Admirals, 3-1 in the second round. In 1998, the Hampton Roads Admirals defeated the Wheeling Nailers, 4-2 in the Northern Conference Final.
The Nailers have won 25 of the 36 head-to-head meetings since the Admirals returned to the ECHL in 2015. The two sides split a two-game series at Norfolk Scope Arena this season and did not collide at WesBanco Arena.
Tickets are available for the North Division Semifinal Series at wheelingnailers.com and by calling (304) 234-4625.